Monday, October 25, 2010

i eat a lot of bananas. i'm prone to a lot of foot cramps and bananas are one of the only things that help temper them. luckily, the are one of my favouite fruits and make amazingly creamy smoothies. i whipped this one up after a visit to the gym and got to use my new glass straw! lauren over at ginger is the new pink features these a lot and i've wanted one for a while. i finally picked one up at a festival a couple weeks ago. it makes drinking so awesome and it's eco-friendly!

2 bananas

5 ice cubes

1/3 cup water

1 tablespoon of pb2

pb2 is a peanut butter powder with a lot of the fatty oils removed. essentially you add water to create a peanut butter paste. i like to use it in smoothies, cupcakes, icings, etc. to get the flavour without all the fat.

for this recipe, just toss everything in blender and blend until smoothie. drink with a glass straw if you have one!

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

i made this a couple months ago almost exclusively using produce from greeley gardens. i've blogged on a couple other csa-inspired dishes, but i really made a lot more than made it to this blog. i was able to can a lot of the veggies so i can continue to enjoy them all winter long. what i love most about my weekly bag of produce is that i'm almost immediately inspired to create a new recipe. you can check out the weekly pics of all my csa goodies here.

1 cup mixed yellow and green beans

5-6 baby potatoes, diced

5-6 cherry tomatoes, halved

8 button mushrooms, sliced

2 tablespoons veggie broth

1 tablespoon vegan butter

for the miso balsamic dressing:

1¼ yellow miso

3/4 teaspoon garlic

3/4 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon dijon mustard

3 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

3/4 teaspoons rosemary

pinch of black pepper

chop beans into 1-inch bite sized pieces. steam the diced potatoes and green beans for approximately 10-12 minutes. meanwhile, lightly sauté the mushroom slices in the butter and veggie broth for about 5 minutes and then set all the veggies aside to cool

mix the dressing ingredients in a magic bullet or blender. put the cooked veggies in a dish and pour the dressing over top. add in the cherry tomatoes and toss gently.

Monday, October 4, 2010

i've been way too busy to really devote time to typing out recipes (shame on me!), but there has been no lack of cooking or eating in my house. i thought i'd come back with two recipes from a mediterranean platter that i've made a couple of times with dolmas (stuffed grape leaves), baba ganoush, pita, falafel, olives and crackers. it's a nice little twist on the traditional sunday football snack plates.

bring rice and one cup water to a boil, then let simmer for 20 minutes. blend pine nuts, lemon juice, braggs, garlic powder and olive oil in a food processor. mix the creamy pine nut paste with the rice. if you have leaves in jar, pull out 6 or so larger leaves, open it up and rinse well. lay the leave flat with the stem side up and place about a tablespoon of the rice mixture in the center. fold the stem side up over the mixture, and then fold in the two sides of the leaf. then just roll it up. if you've never done this before, it will take a couple tries and maybe a couple torn leaves. but once you get it down, it's a snap.

tightly pack the leaves seam-side down in a small non-stick skillet or small saucepan. you want them pushed up against each other so the leave don't open while they cook. pour about a cup of water in the pan and cover. let them steam for about 20 minutes, then cool slightly and sprinkle with a little lemon juice before serving.

for an alternate recipe, sub out the pine nuts and olive oil, and use about 6 oz tomato sauce instead. the lemon juice and tomato sauce are an awesome combo.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

for the baba ganoush:

1 medium eggplant

1-2 cloves garlic

2 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon water

1 tablespoon tahini paste

1 teaspoon olive oil

i like the eggplant with extra roasted flavor. traditionally you might bake with skin on and then peel it off afterward (it slides right off). however, i cube mine and put it on a foil lined cookie sheet (spray with non-stick oil). roast on 400°f for about 25-30 minutes. then i have to peel each cube, but it's pretty easy because you can just peel the skin off. it's worth the extra effort if you like the roasty flavour. i've tried peeling before i cube it, but i tend to loose too much eggplant.

after the eggplant has cooked, pulse all ingredients in a food processor. it is imperative you let it sit for at least 4 hours to attain baba ganoush flavor.

i like to use the leftovers as a dressing for my overstuffed falafel pitas. yum!